Popular Porn Actress Nikki Benz Alleges On-Set Abuse

Well-known adult film actress Nikki Benz has leveled accusations on Twitter of a “horrific” scene in which she claimed to have been allegedly choked by a director, stomped on, and assaulted while cameras continued to roll as she yelled “cut.” She went on to specifically call out the major video company Brazzers, for which she has been a brand ambassador since June, and director Tony T., who allegedly filmed and partook in the scene shot earlier this week.

“The director himself put his hands on me and was choking me,” she claimed in a tweet. “Never in a million years did I think Brazzers would allow it.”

Since first coming forward with these public accusations on her account on Tuesday, the recent Adult Video Network Hall of Fame inductee and 13-year industry veteran has shared various additional accusations and purported screen grabs of messages with Brazzers employees to her 852,000 followers.

https://twitter.com/nikkibenz/status/811244041551552512

A lil more for you @Brazzers pic.twitter.com/7btYWc5tBP

— NIKKI BENZ (@nikkibenz) December 20, 2016

In a statement released on Tuesday, Brazzers announced that the company “supports Nikki Benz,” adding “we do not produce content ourselves but commission producers to do so on our behalf.”

“Brazzers considers performers’ consent, boundaries and limits and safety to be fundamental and paramount issues and unequivocally stands for the respect of the performers. Brazzers does not condone nor does it tolerate conduct by producers that would jeopardize a performer’s security or well-being,” it continues. “Given the allegations surrounding the production of this scene, Brazzers will thoroughly investigate its production, and, if necessary will take steps that are reasonably calculated to prevent the alleged behavior from occurring.”

It seems unlikely the filmed scenes will ever be released, after the allegations, but Benz claimed that her requests to “cut” being ignored were captured on film. One tweet, in which Benz purports to show an iMessage exchange between herself and a member of the production company, shows an unnamed party saying, “I just reviewed the footage. Call me,” to which she responds “Did u see the part where I said cut, where I said I’m not ok with this? Tony T did he leave that in???? I said no.”

According to his page on the Internet Adult Film Database — similar to IMDb, but for adult films — 34-year-old Tony T. has worked as both a performer and an actor in a total of over 600 films since 2003. While he can most recently be seen as a performer in an Evil Angel compilation video earlier this year in old footage, he has not been credited on the site as a director since 2008. (When contacted by Vocativ, Adam Grayson, a representative for production company Evil Angel, said he was surprised to hear that Tony was still working within the industry. The company last worked with him in 2012, but Grayson said it had no plans to work with him again in the future.) Vocativ has been seeking a way to reach out to Tony T for comment, but had not found one by press time.

Both the Guild and the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee have released early statements on their Twitter pages responding to the allegations with support for Benz and fans have also been supportive online. Adult Performers Actors Guild Vice President Alana Evans told Vocativ that when a famous performer like Benz comes forward, it can encourage others to be public about their experiences. “You’re going to see other women feel empowered and start to speak because Nikki is taking on that fight and they’ll feel strong enough to stand behind her,” she said.

In an e-mail with LA Weekly, the Free Speech Coalition, a Los Angeles-based trade group representing the adult video industry, similarly condemned the alleged assault. “No worker, adult or otherwise, should ever be subjected to physical violence. We are working with the parties, as well as the performer group APAC [Adult Performer Advocacy Committee], to determine what happened on the set, and how we should react as a community.”

The shoot in which the assault allegedly occurred appeared to have taken place on Saturday. After stating she would post pics from the set that morning, Benz never did, but later tweeted, “The shit that performers have to deal with for the art of porn. Ok 2016 you’re officially an asshole. What a terrible year…” followed by another that stated, “…but yeah I totally ate shit on set today. Not a graceful fall.”

The accusations made on Tuesday come just over one year after porn actress Stoya leveled rape and abuse allegations against popular male porn star James Deen on the same platform. Following Stoya’s accusations, numerous adult film actresses came forward with similar accusations of sexual abuse, rape, and other forms of general mistreatment, most of which they said occurred on-set. Looking back on his career trajectory since the allegations made headlines, it seems that very little has changed. This year, Deen is up for 20 awards at the annual “Oscars of Porn” event scheduled for next month. There, Brazzers scenes, actors and crew members will be up for 34 awards, including Best Membership Website for the company overall.

It is unclear whether or not Benz, who said she is currently on vacation and could not be reached for comment, will press charges, stating only that she will “handle her business,” once she returns. “No girl should have to go through what I went through,” she tweeted.